Beauty and the Geek
by capsiclerogers
Summary: You always read stories about James being the popular one and Logan being the nerd. But what if the roles were reversed? Jagan, probable Kenlos. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Prologue

**So since I've put a majority of my stories on hold, I wanted to start a new one.  
>I write a lot of KamesCargan, so I'm trying my hand at writing Jagan, and maybe Kenlos. c:  
>This is just the prologue, and it'll probably be my escape when I'm getting frustrated with CarganKames.**

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><p>To put it really simply, James Diamond had never been popular. He wasn't unattractive in the slightest. He was just always that silent, shy brunette in the black frames scribbling down notes in math like he was supposed to. But apparently, performing well in school was something to be ridiculed. He never felt welcomed in the halls of his school, all because he was viewed as a nerd, or geek, or whatever. Basically, he wasn't cool. The only thing that could make it worse was if someone opened the door to his closet and pushed him out. Yes, he was gay. And there was this <em>really<em> gorgeous boy named Logan Mitchell, whom James admired from afar. Logan was on the top of the social ladder and could get any girl he wanted with a wink of an eye, while James was at the bottom who couldn't even get an affectionate cat to approach him.

The weird thing was that they were once friends. Yes, the beauty and the geek, once united by their friendship. But that was long gone and they grew apart. And the _weirdest_ thing has got to be that the Mitchells still come by the Diamond estate every Thanksgiving. _Every single year._ He was forced to sit through hours of torture, every so often taking a glance at the beautiful pale brunette who didn't even acknowledged him. After dinner, Logan would leave the table to talk to James' older brother, Damian, and play video games. James, one who despised video games, had thought about it joining in once or twice, but in the end he never did. He figured since he had never really played video games, he'd just be handing his ass on a platter to his brother and Logan, and that would be embarrassing. He always ended up locking himself in his room to study and listen to music instead. He thought this year would be the same: Logan comes over, they don't really talk but smile and say 'Happy Thanksgiving,' Logan leaves, and they don't share eye contact for the rest of the 364 days of the year.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" the Mitchells shouted from the door as they filed in, carrying platters of covered food.

James' parents and Logan's parents all hugged each other and were chattering excitedly to the kitchen as they prepared for the feast. James was sitting on the couch watching TV, flashing a smile when Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell walked by, but remained silent.

"Hey Loges!" Damian greeted, giving the younger boy a manly hug.

"Hey Damian, happy turkey day!"

James felt a bit jealous that Damian got to hug Logan, but he shook it off and turned his attention back to the TV. The 'Slapsgiving' episode of _How I Met Your Mother_ was playing, and when Marshall stood up to slap Barney in the face, he laughed out loud, louder than he had intended to.

"Oh look, little bro decided to say something today, huh?" Damian joked, plopping down on the couch next to his brother.

James raised an eyebrow. "Well technically, I didn't say anything."

"Well _technically_, you're a nerd."

Jame sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well _technically_, you're annoying."

Damian play-punched James in the arm. "Shut up."

James laughed until he saw Logan sit down next to him. He realized he was sitting on the middle cushion, and so Logan had nowhere else to sit but beside him. An alarm started to blare inside his head, and he lost all brain activity. He didn't know what to do but to stand up.

"Um, be right back. I need... water. You guys want anything to drink?"

James was just staring at Damian the entire time. Damian shook his head, his eyes attached to the television.

"Can I get some apple juice?" Logan requested.

James looked away, blushing, and nodded quickly before fleeing the living room. He poured himself a glass of water and Logan his apple juice slowly, taking his sweet time. He slowly made his way back to the living room and handed Logan his glass without making eye contact.

"Thanks, James," he thanked courteously before taking a sip.

James nodded politely and continued to sit on the sofa awkwardly.

"Damian! Can you come here?" someone called from the kitchen.

Damian shot up from his seat ran to the kitchen, and James felt his heartbeat beginning to pick up pace. Why in the world did his mom need Damian's help the only fucking time Logan sat next to him?

There was a bit of a thick tension, despite the fact the TV was still on, but it was surprisingly broken by Logan.

"So, um, how's life?" Logan asked.

James shrugged. "G-good, I guess."

Logan nodded slowly, still staring at the television. James tried to focus on the episode, but he was paying more attention to the boy in his peripheral vision than the show.

_God he looks cute in that black jacket and red scarf!_

Finally after what seemed like hours, their parents announced that the dinner was ready, so they headed towards the dining table and sat down across from each other like they usually did. They said their prayers, although James wasn't really into religion, and began to eat.

He quickly went through his meal, and as soon as he was done, he did what he always did—excuse himself and head up to his room to study and listen to music. He ran upstairs and closed the door, taking his homework out and plugging his iPod into his iHome dock. He pressed play and Foster the People's _I Would Do Anything For You_ filled his tidy room.

James flung himself onto his bed and began to do his AP Biology homework while belting the lines, since everyone else was still downstairs.

"Never wanna stand up for myself. Never wanna get in the way, I said it," he started of more quietly, distracted by his bio homework, which was reading about how DNA replicates. When he realized he knew most of this information, he put down his pencil and rolled on his back, continuing to sing.

"Ooh la la, I've fallen in love, and it's better this time than ever before. Ooh la la, I've fallen in love, and it's better this time than I've ever known."

James wishes he could find the love that Mark Foster had found in this song. He closed his eyes and was lost in his own daydreams of finding the perfect guy until he let the music blasting from his iPod consume him and drift him to sleep.

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><p><strong>Haha I was listening to Foster the People when I wrote that part. :) They're kind of amazing. Anyway, hope you liked it and my shifter + enter bullshit isn't working. KAY reviews are fun.<strong>


	2. I've Got the Fever

**Look who decided to post! :)  
><strong>**How's everybody doing? Christmas is nearing, and Hanukkah is starting tomorrow, I believe. :D  
>Fine, I'll be quiet... Enjoy!<strong>

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><p><em>Chapter 1: I've Got the Fever<em>

"How was Thanksgiving?" a dark-haired boy asked, popping up from behind James.

James flinched out of surprise and hit his locker door, dropping all the books and papers that were in his arms. He winced in pain, shaking his hand as he quickly picked up his belongings from the ground.

"Carlos. Fine," James mumbled. "Same as always, I guess."

Carlos frowned, leaning against the neighboring locker.

"Did you and Logan _not_ hit it off again?" he teased with a snicker.

James stuffed all of the stuff in his locker in exchange for a book and shut the metal door with a click.

"Shut up. At least we exchanged a few words."

Carlos looked at him with interest, eyebrows raised and eyes wide, as if begging him to elaborate.

James chuckled and examined his finger, which was stinging from the forceful contact with his locker.

"Not much happened, really. I just had the privilege to awkwardly serve him apple juice and reply with one-worded responses. Then I just went upstairs and did my Biology report."

Carlos sighed, shaking his head and arms crossed across his chest.

James rolled his eyes, holding his slightly bleeding wound up to his friend's face.

"You see this? It's all your fault. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the little boy's room and apply some Neosporin. You know what can happen if you don't clean it, Carlos?"

Carlos held his hands up defensively, pushing James away.

"No, and I don't really feel like finding out, so go before I strangle you."

James chuckled and nodded before heading in a separate direction. He turned the corner and pushed open the first door to his left, into the men's restroom. It was fairly empty, since there was still thirty minutes until class started. The only reason he was there so early was because he felt the library was the only place he could have some peace and quiet.

He began singing softly to himself as he walked over to the sinks and turned on the faucet. As he washed his hands thoroughly with soap to minimize the chance of getting an infection on his cut, his singing grew increasingly louder and began shaking his butt, shamelessly dancing and thrashing his head to the beat. It's not like anyone was here, right?

"_Hello, my name is __**James**__, I play gentleman's games. And I just slip through and creepin' through the night's parade. I shake a hand or two, I—"_

He paused for a moment when he thought he heard laughter echoing within the walls of the bathroom, turning off the faucet to listen for any sort of movement. He made sure to be as still as he could, but after a while, he shrugged and continued his singing as he dried his hands. More snickers. He stopped wiping his hands and turned around to face the stalls, eyeing each door suspiciously.

"Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone in here?"

At first, it was nothing but the hum of the electricity, but finally he heard a tiny sniffle.

"I know you're in here," he said, slowly pushing open stall doors one by one to check for any locked ones. He got to the very last one, closest to the wall, and discovered that it was locked shut.

He sighed and mentally bitch slapped himself for being an idiot and singing in the bathroom in the assumption that no one was here. As if students here didn't have enough reasons to bully him. He lightly knocked on the door, leaning back against the cool tile wall.

"Look, I know I probably don't know you, but I'm going to take my chances and say you probably hate me. But if you could _not_ tell anyone what you heard, I would be eternally grateful."

No response.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead," James muttered. "It's not like my reputation could get any worse."

James pushed himself from the wall and headed for the sink again, opening the front pocket of his backpack for his portable first aid kit he brought around. He tried to remove the idea that Morris, the co-captain of the school's hockey team, would probably hear of this incident and beat him up for it from his mind, but it was a bit hard. Although he said he didn't care, he was scared. He didn't want another item onto the list of things the hockey idiots could torture him with, but what could he do? No one except Carlos ever showed sympathy for him, and no one was going to have a random change of heart.

"Wait."

James stopped his applying Neosporin to his finger as soon as he heard the stall door creak open. He whirled around and gasped, stunned at what he was perceiving. Logan was standing across the restroom from James with red eyes and a small pout. His usual styled fauxhawk was no where to be seen; instead, ungelled, disheveled hair took its place. He wore his usual letterman jacket that all the Varsity hockey players owned, but for some reason, it didn't look right. Logan actually appeared vulnerable, and that was something _no one_ has ever seen.

"Wow, you look terrible," James dumbly blurted, wide eyes still staring at the jock in front of him.

Logan weakly chuckled.

"Thanks, bro."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," James began to stammer.

"Don't worry." Logan smiled. "I heard you sing and dance; we're even."

James felt his face heat up and he clutched his cheeks, dropping his gaze down to the dirty floors, taking notice of the paper toilet strewn across the floor with puddles of mysterious liquids that covered some parts of the ground.

He looked up startled when he felt a hand on his arm, tensing at the gentle touch. Logan must've sensed it because he immediately removed his hand and stuffed it back into his jacket pockets and averted his glance to the side. James could see how his eyes carried so much sadness, and he couldn't help but wonder what was wrong. He wanted to ask Logan more than anything and possibly help him, but he knew it wasn't any of his business. Still, how often did he get to talk to Logan? He had to say _something_.

"So what are you doing here so early?" James heard himself ask.

Frankly, he was surprised he had the courage to ask that with no stuttering of any sort.

"Hockey practice," he simply said, connecting eyes with James once again.

James decided then and there that if he died, he wouldn't mind. The way Logan's big chocolate eyes stared into his hazel eyes, despite being bloodshot, was too much for a guy like James to handle. He began to nervously sweat a little, pushing his glasses up higher as he felt himself forgetting how to speak English.

"Are you okay?" Logan asked in a concerned tone, eyebrows knit together.

James nodded, biting his lip.

"I am," James assured as soon as he could speak again. "But, um, are you? I mean..."

Logan cleared his throat, eyes filling with tears once again. He blinked them away and tried to wipe it before James could see, but of course, it didn't work.

"Um, my parents... they're, uh,—" Logan took a deep breath before proceeding, "—they're getting a d-divorce."

James' heart fell with a thud as the pale boy uttered the news. Never would anyone have thought that Logan's parents were having marital issues. During the Thanksgiving dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell seemed so content with each other, so in love, and hearing this then was completely unreal. He swallowed thickly and placed a comforting hand on Logan's shoulder.

Logan stared at James' stiff grip on his shoulder, so James tried patting it, only to make it that much more awkward. He finally decided upon retracting his hand and assuaging Logan another way.

Suddenly, Logan began shaking with laughter.

"W-why are you laughing?" James whimpered, afraid Logan had gone crazy.

"You... haha... oh my God, haha!" Logan gasped out in between fits of laughter.

James stood there with a scowl as he patiently waited for the laughter to subside and for Logan to regain his composure.

"Sorry, but you're just terrible at comforting people," Logan finally said, stifling his giggles.

"Well, I'm not very experienced with it!" James protested. "Don't blame me!"

Logan legitimately smiled for the first time that morning. A warm smile. Not a fake, plastered one, but a genuine smile, and it made James melt.

"No, James, just... just thanks."

"For what?"

"For trying, and listening. I know we haven't exchanged many words for years, but I owe you one."

James shrugged.

"It's all good. Just don't tell any of your hockey friends about my singing, and we're even."

Logan chuckled and walked next to the door, pulling it open and holding it for James. James politely refuted with a shake of a head.

"Actually, I need to bandaid up my cut," he said, showing him the minor abrasion. "Don't want it to get infected."

_Smooth_, he groaned inwardly. _Why did I say that?_

Logan grinned and gave him an eye-roll.

"Alright. It was nice talking to you, James."

"Same," James replied, butterflies now tickling his tummy.

Logan stepped out, only to step back in and turn to James one last time.

"And James?"

"Hmm?" James was carefully wrapping a bandaid around his finger.

"For what it's worth, I don't hate you. I never could."

James' insides wanted to scream and collapse on the floor with joy and pure ecstasy, but he remained calm on the outside. He just flashed a toothy grin.

"Thanks, Logan."

And without another word, Logan smiled and left the bathroom. James looked at himself in the mirror and exhaled slowly. He chuckled to himself as he drowned himself in thoughts about what had just happened. He had never felt more empowered to start a schoolday. He had decreed that nothing could ruin this day, not even Logan's stupid hockey goons.

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><p><strong>Okay if you're wondering why I'm using so many Foster the People songs, it's because I used it in the prologue... And okay, because I was listening to them as I typed it. You should go check them out~. The song I used is called "Love." :D <strong>

**Merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah~. Hope you liked this chapter.**


	3. Don't Stop

**Sorry about all the slow updates, especially for this.  
><strong>**I've had this chapter sitting there for a while now, but I didn't want to post it.  
><strong>**Honestly I don't have enough time to rewrite it so this will just have to do. c:**

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><p>"Shut up."<p>

"No."

"_Shut up!_" laughed Carlos, delivering a smack to James' elbow.

"Oh my God, I literally think you're more excited than I am."

Carlos ignored him and continued.

"Logan _talked _to you, and then you two are going to be friends, and the next thing you know you're going to be fucking him and doing R-rated shit to him."

James scrunched his nose distastefully and groaned in disgust.

"Carlos, shut up!"

He looked around the hallways warily. It may have been between classes when chances were no one was even listening, but someone still could've heard it. And that wouldn't be good for both him and Logan.

Carlos had a smug smile on his face as he watched James squirm in nervousness.

"Look, I liked talking to him, but face it. He's popular and I'm just some geek," James sighed, slamming his locker door shut. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to math and stare at the back of his head."

Carlos laughed and rolled his eyes.

"You should try to talk to him anyway, you know. You never know; he may be the only angelic thing in this hell-hole of a school."

James considered that.

"Alright, we'll see. See you."

Carlos waved and walked off in the opposite direction. James stared at the classroom door of his Calculus class and let out a breath.

_I can do this._

He confidently strode into the room with a bounce of swagger in his steps. He calmly took his seat behind Logan, who was giving him an amused look. James could tell Logan was biting his lip to stifle laughter, so he smiled to himself.

"Hey," James said coolly, lifting his chin up to nod at the jock.

Logan turned around and gave a polite smile back, but just as quickly returned his eyes onto the white board.

_Odd_.

After class was over, he followed Logan out and to his locker.

"Hey, Logan, can I ask you something?"

Logan widened his eyes and muttered, 'oh my god' while scanning the hallways. He grabbed James by the lapels and pushed him into the janitor's closet. He shut the door quietly behind him and locked it.

"James, you can't just _do that_," Logan huffed.

James scrunched his eyebrows.

"Do what?"

Logan wore a slightly apologetic expression as his fingers gripped and tugged his hair.

"Look, I hate to sound like an asshole but I can't be seen with you at school."

James could practically hear his heart shattering like glass as his words sunk into him. All he asked was _one person_ to be different from the rest. But really, was he even surprised? Hell, if he was as popular as Logan, he wasn't sure if he would do anything differently. Still, it hurt like hell.

"Yeah, okay," James quietly whispered, fighting to keep his voice from breaking. "Sorry."

He reached behind for the doorknob, but he felt a gentle hand rest on his arm.

"James, I'm really sorry. We can still be friends, you know, privately," Logan suggested. "I'm going over to your house with my mom since she's not taking the divorce that well… we can hang out then."

"No offense, Logan, but that doesn't really sound like a friendship to me," James quipped, sounding angrier than he had intended it to be.

"I know," Logan sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Usually friendships don't come with terms and stipulations."

James nodded.

"But you have to understand," Logan begged, "I just need to survive high school. I know you have it rough, and if I could do something about it—"

"I know, I know. I wouldn't want to drag you into it either," James mumbled.

"James, thanks."

James shrugged.

"No problem, I guess?"

Brown eyes roll.

"No, I'm talking about being there for me and understanding. I miss us, you know? And now we can go back to the elementary school days."

_Except not really_, James wanted to say. He concluded, though, it was better to at least get to talk to Logan secretly than not at all.

"Yup, back to elementary school days."

Logan sighed with relief and grinned.

"Glad that's settled. See you around."

Logan patted James on the back and left the cramped closet. James ran his fingers through his hair, flicked off the lights, and followed suit, closing the door behind him.

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><p>"What a jerk-off," Carlos scoffed over the phone.<p>

He popped another crunchy chip into his mouth.

"Carlos, what the hell are you eating? Rocks?" James groaned, rolling onto his back as he kicked his feet onto his pillow.

"Har har," he sarcastically said, mumbling with his mouth full. "Anyway, did you tell Logan to go to hell and that you never want to see him again?"

"No, not at all."

"…So what did you tell him yesterday?"

James remained silent as he played with the hem of his lucky white V-neck. The line went dead, and you could only hear Carlos' breathing as he expected James to answer.

"Well?" Carlos asked, louder. "James did you hang up on me?"

"No, I didn't hang up on you. I told him that… I'll do it. We'll be friends in secret."

James squeezed his eyes shut and held the phone away from his ear, as Carlos exploded with fury and attempted to deafen him. He heard some unpleasant words coming from the phone, but it quickly ended and he placed his ear onto the earpiece again.

"Okay, those were not nice words," James remarked. "But what would you do? If I were Logan, I wouldn't want some lame loser to ruin my reputation either."

"Screw reputation. If other people have a problem, they can suck it."

"Of course," James laughed. "Except high school doesn't exactly function that way, does it?"

"Hey, I'm your best friend aren't I? You're lucky those hockey assholes are scared of me or else you'd be pummeled into pulp every day of your life for the entire four years."

"Hm, you're right. Thanks, Calvin, for having my back. Wait, you name _is _Calvin right?"

"You ungrateful little bastard," Carlos joked back.

James heard the doorbell ring and sat up.

"Alright Carlos, they're here. Wish me luck!"

"Are you wearing your lucky white V-neck?" Carlos reminded.

James glanced down to double check and tapped his chest twice.

"Yup," he confirmed. "Talk to you later."

"Good luck!"

James hung up and placed his phone on his desk. He climbed down the stairs and instantly frowned when he saw how stressed Mrs. Mitchell looked. Her eyes were bloodshot, either from restless nights or from a tremendous amount of crying. Logan's lips were pressed together in a line as he talked with Damian. Damian had an arm wrapped around the smaller, which spurred a little jealousy from James' within.

Logan's eyes flickered up towards the staircase, and his lips curled into a small smile. James brought his hands up and wriggled his fingers

"Excuse me," James heard Logan tell his brother.

Damian watched as Logan began walking towards James, who was standing at the base of the stairs.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hi. How are you holding up?"

Logan blew air out slowly.

"I'm, um, holding up. Thinking of taking a break from hockey, but the boys aren't too thrilled about that idea."

James chuckled.

"I can imagine. The only reason we got into championships was because of you; I don't think we can win if you're out."

Logan cocked his head to side.

"You… watch our hockey games? I never see you."

"Yeah, I tend to stay hidden and leave after I know the ending score," James laughed.

Logan didn't find that so funny.

"Man, I'm really sorry. I mean, you really shouldn't have to do that," Logan said.

James pushed up his glasses and shrugged.

"It's okay, I'm used to it."

Logan's eyes darted to James' bedroom door.

"Wanna go into your room?"

James gulped and nodded.

"S-sure."

Logan headed up the steps and turned a sharp right, opening the first door on his left. James followed behind like a puppy, none of them exchanging words or glances until the bedroom door was closed.

"Whoa, what happened in here?"

Logan was staring at the piles of clothes strewn across the floor, as if a tornado had hit and gone.

"Erm, sorry," James sheepishly apologized, beginning to pick some up shirts. "I was trying to find a nice enough outfit."

"So you took out button-ups, but settled for a white V-neck?" Logan chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

"…Yes."

Logan started laughing, a charming sound to James' ears.

"So, um, what were you talking to my brother about?"

The shorter's face quickly darkened, dropping his gaze and taking a seat on James' bed.

"Well, I found out why they're getting a divorce. Turns out, my dad had been cheating on my mom for three years now."

James grimaced and sat down next to Logan and put a consoling arm around him.

"Logan, that's terrible. I'm really sorry."

"My dad should be sorry, not you."

Logan's eyes were brimming with tears, and he had a hard time trying to prevent himself from trembling.

"Logan, you can cry if you want to," James whispered soothingly as he tightened his grip around the shaking boy. "I'm not going to judge you."

Almost immediately, Logan released all the emotions he had held back and tears began free-falling from his face. He wrapped his arms around James and hugged him tight. It stayed like that for a good ten minutes before Logan pulled away, sniffing his nose and wiping his face with his jacket sleeve.

"Sorry for… that."

"Don't be."

James kissed Logan on the head, but quickly grew to regret it. Logan gave a brief questioning look at James, but then shrugged it off.

"James, you're the only one who cares," Logan said.

"I'm sure that's not true."

"No," Logan insisted, "none of my friends at school care about me. They just give me a quick 'I'm sorry' and then they just tell me to get over it because we need to win championships this year."

"Well if you need to tell me anything then feel free to. I'm happy to listen."

Logan smiled and got up.

"Thanks, but…"

He walked over to James' iHome and picked up his iPod.

"I don't want to talk right now. You can cheer me up by dancing and singing, like yesterday morning in the bathroom."

He started shaking his butt and imitating James.

"_Hello my name is James I play_—Ah!"

James chucked his pillow at Logan's ass and busted into laughter.

"Just for that, I'm going to find the most embarrassing song for you to sing and dance to. And you can't say no because my parents are getting divorced."

James jumped up from his bed and pretended to stretch.

"Bring it. Name any song."

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><p><strong>Does anyone want to hate Logan yet?<br>****I know I'm trying to make him seem like a jerk, but Jagan bromance is the cutest.  
><strong>**Reviews are appreciated! :D**


	4. Got Moves Like Barracudas

**Oh look who came back from the dead! Haha.  
><strong>**School's been pretty shitty as usual, leaving me no time for this.**

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><p>It was Saturday. James smiled to himself as he climbed out of bed, brushing his teeth and putting on simple shirt and jeans and out of his pajamas. He lived for the weekends, mainly because he got to avoid the bullies that usually confronted him. Today was the big game that determined whether the Wolves would be eligible to compete in the championships, and James wouldn't miss it for the world. He smiled as he remembered the day before when Logan and his mom dropped by to visit and talk. James and Logan had spent most of the night in his room just talking and catching up on life. He had discovered that Logan wanted to be a doctor and save people, which James thought was so noble of him. The more he got to know the boy, the more he started to admire him. The only issue was that their friendship couldn't go public at all.<p>

There was a loud knock on his door.

"Hey bro, are you done applying make-up and shit in there?" Damian called from outside the bathroom. "I kind of need to take a piss."

James rolled his eyes and brushed his brown hair one last time before setting it down beside the white porcelain sink. He reached for the door and opened it for his brother.

"Good morning too, Damian," he sarcastically said.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Damian asked, checking his brother's outfit out. "You're never dressed this nicely, ever."

"I'm going to the hockey game with Carlos, why?"

Damian shot him a questioning look, advancing slowly towards James. When he was right in front of the younger, he put a firm hand on James' shoulder.

"Do you have a crush on Carlos, James?"

"What? No!" James argued. "I don't like Carlos _like that_."

"Bro, I won't tell him. I promise," Damian said, ignoring his reply.

James pushed past Damian, giving him an eye-roll.

"Bye," he sang as he headed out towards the hallway.

"James! Come back!" he yelled after him. "I can help you get the guy!"

James chuckled to himself.

_Dumbass_, he thought.

When he reached the bottom of the stairway, the door rang. He went to the big wooden doors that separated the living room from the outside and pulled it open.

"Hi Carlos," he greeted with a smile.

He felt a hard thud on his back, and then a strong arm wrap around his shoulder and pull him in tight.

"Hi James," Carlos said back. "And, uh, hi Damian."

"Hi Carlos," Damian nodded. "Take care of my little bro. You break his heart and I break you, got it?"

Carlos stared at the two in confusion.

"What did he say?" he asked, turning to James.

"Nothing," James sighed with embarrassment. "Damian, Carlos and I are not in a relationship. Our friendship is strictly platonic. How many times do I have to tell you this?"

"Then what are you dressed up all dandy for?" his brother badgered.

"Logan," Carlos snickered.

Damian raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.

"Logan, hm?" he hummed. "Even I can't help you with that, James. But good luck."

James grimaced and glared at his brother.

"Wow, thanks for all the moral support!" he retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He quickly shut the door and let out a sigh.

"Oh my God, my brother needs to leave my personal life alone."

"He's just trying to help you," Carlos laughed, leading his friend to his car. "At least he cares about you, you know?"

James opened the passenger door and slid inside.

"Yeah, but a little too much," he muttered, shutting the door.

Carlos let out a small chuckle as he started the engine. They backed out of the driveway in Carlos' car and headed towards their school. After they parked in a nearby parking space, they went into the ice rink and decided to sit in the very top to avoid any trouble with schoolmates. Carlos left and came back with some refreshments and two hot dogs.

Carlos handed James a hot dog and a Coke before situating himself next to his friend on the bench. The team had already finished warming up and was in the locker rooms with the coach. The game was about to start any second.

Their school's anthem sounded throughout the stadium and everyone stood up to get a better view of the team skating through a banner. As soon as the team skated out in the center of the ice, the crowd screamed. Then after a few seconds after the rest of the team had made out to the ice, Logan and Henry the Hornet sped out on skates, encouraging the cheers to get even louder. It was all kind of deafening, and as much as James enjoyed hockey, he didn't understand why people got so crazy. He and Carlos exchanged glances as they remained seated and eating their hot dogs.

The announcer called out the opposing team, the Roseau Rams, and the adversaries skated out from the opposite sides of the rink.

"Boo!" the audience screamed.

"Welcome, avid hockey fans!" the guy boomed. "Today's game is the Edina Hornets, home, versus the Roseau Rams! The winning team will advance to the Minnesota Hockey State Championships, so there's a lot riding on this one."

The referees blew their whistle after the puck was put into starting position, and all the players raced to hit it.

"And the Hornets have the puck! Stetson is swiftly avoiding Number 13 and ooh!—so close."

The crowd groaned and most of them slumped back into their seats.

"The puck was stolen by the Rams, and now team captain and center, Mitchell, is going after the puck!"

Logan caught up with Number 13 and was about to tackle the puck before he was pummeled the ground by several large opponents. A fight had escalated, and so the referees had to pause the game momentarily and take Logan out to the bench.

James groaned and covered his face with his hand.

"This is already not turning out well," he muttered to Carlos.

"I know," Carlos sighed. "It's five seconds into the game and the Rams _already_ have a power play. We continue like this and we're not going to compete in State."

The power play started and Number 2 shot forward, taking control of the puck. He shoots, but Wilson, Hornets' goalie, luckily deflects it. The crowd releases a breath of relief and the intense play continues.

"The Rams have the puck, and there is still 4:30 left in the power play. Things are not looking quite so good for the home team," the announcer comments.

It was a slow five minutes, but the power play finally comes to an end, leaving the score 0-1. James notices Logan back on the ice and he smiles.

"YEAH MITCHELL!" Carlos screams as loud as he can, causing many turning head and annoyed glances.

Logan whirls around to the stands with a perplexed expression to find the source of the scream. His eyebrows shoot up when he notices an embarrassed James, hiding his face behind his hands, beside Carlos who seems to be laughing at James' reddening cheeks. He feels a surge of newfound confidence and skates to his starting position. He eyes his opponent and smirks, game face on. The referee blows the whistle and the game starts once again. Logan reacts quickly, stealing the puck and skates past Number 18. Three of the defense players beings to skate up to Logan, attempting to form a body barricade and take the puck from him, but he quickly shoots it to Dak. Dak shoots it back to Logan and Logan dribbles the puck closer to the goal, hitting it as hard as he can as soon as he got close. The puck slides right past the goalie, and the crowd bursts into cheers. Logan smiles triumphantly, the sound of cheering music to his ears. He knew they could win this. He looks as his teammates and congratulates Dak on the good pass.

"Let's go!" the referees yell and they assemble in their starting positions once again.

_Perrrrp!_ And the players take off again.

* * *

><p>"And the Hornets win, 4-2!"<p>

The entire school jumps up from their seats, chanting Logan's name as he made 3 out of the 4 goals that day. James and Carlos high-fived each other.

"Never doubted them for a second," Carlos said.

"Riiiight," James chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Let's go."

"Don't you want to tell Logan 'congratulations?'" Carlos asked.

"Um, well… we're technically not friend in public, remember?"

Carlos gave his friend an eye roll and an exaggerated moan.

"Oh right. That's stupid."

"No it's not," James defended. "He's popular and I'm not. I'm lucky he's even talking to me at all in the first place."

"High school social status is the most bullshit system ever. You're worth more than this, James. You deserve to talk to him if you like him." Carlos pushed James playfully.

"Thanks, but life is bullshit. Now let's go, my mom made pasta and if we don't hurry, Damian's gonna take all the meatballs."

Carlos laughed as he and his friend slipped out of the crowd.

"Wouldn't want that to happen, now would we?" Carlos joked.

* * *

><p><strong>Um, I'm a hockey fan (GO SJ SHARKS!) but I'm not too keen on hockey terms and details.<br>****I watch occasionally and I follow my team but I don't watch enough... so I hope this is accurate for the most part.**

**Reviews are great. c: Hope you enjoyed it.**


	5. Call It What You Want

**So this is a shorter chapter to introduce a new important character, our dear Kendall~.  
><strong>**Lol, I'm not sure how much you guys will like this, but I found this really amusing to write.  
><strong>**You'll see why in a second. ;)**

* * *

><p>"James, please help me."<p>

"Oh come on, Carlos. I'm sure he's a nice kid. Why don't you get off the phone and go talk to him?"

"He's weird," Carlos complained. "He literally walks around in nothing but underwear and sings German songs all day long."

James laughed at Carlos' description of the foreign exchange student that was occupying his house.

"Sounds pretty good to me."

"Not even, bro. _And_ he ate my last frozen corndog."

"Oh no," James sarcastically gasped. "_Not your precious corndogs!_ God forbid!"

"Dick."

James chuckled.

"Seriously, Carlos, just try being nice and social. He can't be that bad."

"Fine, but if you see me in Lederhosen on Monday, you'll know what happened. And it'll all be your fault," Carlos warned.

"That's racist."

"Is not. You know it could happen."

James rolled his eyes.

"Bye Carlos."

"Bye."

Carlos hung up his phone and tossed it aside, crawled off his bed, and opened the door.

"Hi Carlos!" a thick accented voice suddenly boomed.

The Latino jumped back and collapsed onto the floor, startled, and clutched his dangerously-paced heart.

"Jesus Christ! Please never do that again!"

"Sorry, do you need help?" he offered, bending down and stretching a skinny arm out.

"No, no, I'm fine," Carlos grumbled, getting back onto his feet by himself. "What's your name again?"

"Kendall," the taller said. "I'm happy to be here."

"Yeah we're all glad," Carlos flippantly said.

Then he realized the German blonde was standing in front of him clad in a pair of tight boxers. Carlos' eyes widened and began wildly pointing at Kendall's half nude body.

"Why are you excited like that?" Kendall inquired.

"I-I'm not excited! Please, put on some clothes," Carlos sputtered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt like a parent.

Kendall pointed to his package.

"Oh, this bother you? I'm sorry. I will go put on some clothes."

"Yes, thank you," Carlos sighed with relief as the taller scampered off into the guest room to dress himself.

He waited for Kendall to come back by sitting on his bed again. He composed a message to James.

**To James Diamond  
>Message<strong>: omg he was waiting in front of my door half naked god help me

Almost immediately, he received a reply from his friend.

**From James Diamond**  
><strong>Message<strong>: Is he cute? :)

**To James Diamond**  
><strong>Message<strong>: wow kinda missing the point here huh

"Is this better?"

Carlos stuffed his phone back into his pocket and stared at the now fully dressed blonde at the doorway.

"Yeah, much better," Carlos breathed as he noticed Kendall's perfectly wide shoulder and slender limbs. His bottle green eyes only accentuated his golden hair, which framed his chiseled face—and the best part was he wasn't wearing Lederhosen!

Kendall grinned and made a gesture, as if asking permission if he could enter the room. Carlos jumped up from the bed.

"Oh, yeah, of course! Come in, Kendall."

The green-eyed beauty walked in and speculated his host's room, admiring the light blue paint finish on the walls and Carlos' many video games stacked high on the shelves. He noticed a picture with Carlos and a brunette, both smiling widely and bundled in thick jackets in front a blazing fireplace.

"Who's that?" he inquired curiously.

"That's my best friend, James. You'll meet him at school tomorrow," Carlos explained. "Cool guy, kind of nerdy if you ask me though."

Kendall laughed a little and placed the frame back onto the shelf. He plucked a video game case from the tall stack beside it and his mouth broke into a huge grin.

"I love this game! Me and my friends like to play it all the time!"

Carlos giggled at Kendall's enthusiasm; plus his accent was heavy. As Kendall continued to go through some of Carlos' things, he began humming and softly singing the German song he always sang.

"What is that?"

"What is what?" Kendall asked, confused.

"That song," Carlos replied. "You always sing it, especially in the shower."

"Oh, that," Kendall laughed. "…I don't know. I made it up."

Carlos stared at Kendall blankly.

"…You made it up?"

Kendall nodded.

"Most of the time, it's what I'm doing. Like for example, when I'm getting food and heating up your corndogs, I sing about that. It changes depending on what I do."

Albeit odd, Carlos found it rather cute. Kendall definitely was quite a quirky person.

"Right," Carlos chuckled. "What are you singing about now?"

"About how I feel awkward going through your things and having you stare at me."

Carlos felt his face heat up.

"Oh, um, s-sorry—"

Kendall rumbled with laughter, clutching his stomach.

"I'm just joking!"

"Oh, wow, way to put me on the spot!"

Kendall stopped his laughing and cocked his head to the side.

"Putting you on what spot? The bed?"

"No, that's… a figure of speech. Nevermind."

The blonde shrugged and continued looking through his video game collection.

"Do you really walk around naked back home?" Carlos said, breaking the silence.

"No, I honestly do that just to make you feel awkward."

"What?" That sure got Carlos' attention.

"Yup. You were always giving me death glares, and not making me feel welcome. Two can do play that game, you know."

Carlos began to laugh as he walked up to Kendall.

"That's… actually a really smart idea," he mused. "Sorry about that, though. You _are_ welcome at my house."

"That's what I thought," Kendall bantered back, winking playfully.

Carlos smiled, and felt a tickle in his stomach. He wasn't sure what was happening, but he just knew he was okay with feeling like this. He took Kendall's hand and dragged him to the bed.

"Sit," he ordered, and Kendall sat.

"Tell me about Germany—where you lived, what it was like, anything."

Kendall's lips curled into a small smile.

"Okay, sure. I have _many_ stories to share if you're interested."

"Well, we have all afternoon, don't we?"

* * *

><p><strong>Yup, Kendall is an exchanged student from Munich! LOL. I was watching the German guy on YouTube who gets confused with figures of speech and it kind of inspired me. I decided to add Kenlos so... thoughts? :D<strong>

**Also, who would_kill_ to see Kendall in a lederhosen? :P**


	6. I Would Do Anything For You

**Wow I update this story quite frequently haha.  
><strong>**I've been really busy lately, due to my lack of focusness and procrastination. :P Whoopsies.  
><strong>**But anyway, here's the next chapter YAY.**

* * *

><p>"Hey James," Carlos chirped, Kendall standing beside him.<p>

No response from the brunette who was robotically exchanging binders and textbooks with the locker, lost in his sea of thoughts.

"Watch this," Carlos whispered to his blonde friend. He lightly pushed James, not hard enough to hurt him but firm enough to jolt him back to reality.

James staggered forward and yelped.

"What the _hell_, Carlos?" James growled and turned around, ready to smack his friend in the face. He raised his hand, but then lowered it back down when he saw an unfamiliar blonde boy standing beside Carlos. "Oh hi, you must be the new exchange student."

"He has a name you know," Carlos scoffed. He looked up dreamily at the tall German and sighed. "Tell him your name."

"I'm Kendall," he grinned, reaching his hand out for a handshake.

James took it and shook it nice and firmly. "Nice to meet you. I'm James."

"I've heard lots of things about you, like how you're a big turd!" he exclaimed in his thick accent.

"Erm, excuse me?" James laughed lightheartedly, shooting a confused glance Carlos' way.

Carlos leaned into Kendall and whispered something indistinct.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," Kendall gasped. "I mean nerd!"

"Anyway James," Carlos quickly interrupted, "we just wanted to know if you have time to hang out with us right now."

"Can't; I have Thespian Club."

"…Thespian Club? When the hell did you join Thespian Club?"

"Recently. I've always wanted to work on the school play, so now I'm actually going to make time to do that," he replied, shutting his locker door.

"Right," Carlos sighed. "Alright, suit yourself you geek."

James rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Have fun with Kendall, Carlos," James teased. "It was nice meeting you, by the way."

"You too," Kendall said.

Carlos and Kendall left James and walked out of the school doors, laughing and giggling about something Kendall had said in German. James chuckled to himself and turned on his heels, walking towards the drama room.

He was in charge of helping out with prop and set design as well as the lighting for the play as he is quite apt with technology and equipment. The usual lighting technician was in the hospital after a soccer injury and wasn't in the best shape. The drama teacher, Mrs. Parker, decided it would be best for James to take over.

He turned the corner and crashed face first into something tall and firm. Initially he assumed he had just walked right into a wall, but walls definitely don't talk.

"Hey, what where you're going, square."

James sat on the floor rubbing his face, glasses in his left hand. The frames had dug into his skin from the impact of the collision.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, geek," the boy huffed again, this time louder.

"Yeah, okay, I heard you the first time," James snapped. He finally got up from the ground and slid on his glasses, only to get pushed back down again.

James sank into himself as he heard everyone laugh at his misery. He peered upwards and witnessed the smug hockey players guffawing and staring down at him. He shifted his gaze a little to the left and noticed a certain team captain standing there solemnly with a sympathetic look in his eyes. James stared at Logan and gave a silent plea of help with his eyes. Logan immediately broke eye contact and averted his eyes to his shoes.

"Jett, what do you want from me?" James barked, not exactly sure where this surge of confidence came from. Or maybe it was anger?

"I believe an apology is in order."

"For what? Just because you're an idiot, doesn't mean the whole world needs to apologize for that."

James noticed Jett's face darken in color. Nope, he shouldn't have said it, but damn, it felt good.

"You have a death wish, dumbass?" Jett sneered, pulling James up by the collar and slamming him to the lockers.

James winced from the forceful contact between the back side of his body and the hard lockers, held down by the co-captain of the team.

"Alright Jett, calm down…" he heard a familiar voice quietly order.

"Back off Logan. This little punk deserves all the shit that's coming to him."

Logan retreated and didn't say anything else. James felt his heartbeat pick up in pace and sweat trickle down his face. That's it? That's all Logan had said? Unexpectedly, James began to laugh, body shaking.

"What's so funny?"

"You all are. You guys are just a bunch of cowards. You guys push me around and call me mean names, and threaten to kill me but you never even hurt me," he spat bitterly. "What are you guys afraid of? You guys are the most loved people in school and I'm a nobody. What are you all so scared of?"

Logan's eyes widened and he directed an incredulous expression at the poor boy pinned to the row of metal lockers, as if asking _'what the hell are you doing?'_

"Excuse me?"

Jett seemed really fucking pissed.

"I _said_ you're all talk. You wouldn't dare to hurt me because you guys are all a bunch of pussies."

Oh my God, their faces were priceless. Jett threw the first punch in James' cut, making him lurch forward. He coughed as he tried to regain air and refrained from letting any tears slip out.

"Is that all you got?" James challenged, clutching his stomach.

"You're a little fucker aren't you?" Jett hisses through gritted teeth before dropping James back onto the floor and kicking him in the leg. Hard.

James crumpled onto the ground as he held his stomach and leg. His breathings got heavier as pain shot up his being, but before he had must time to recover, all of them, aside from Logan, began to join Jett, delivering kicks left and right and cackling like the idiots they were.

"Stop it guys!" Logan yelled, seeming very distressed.

He pushed through and stood before James who was lying curled on the ground with his eyes closed. One by one, his eyes fluttered open to see what was going on. Logan was standing in front of him, protecting the hurt boy.

"Guys, this is ridiculous. What did he ever do to you guys?" Logan demanded, voice trembling.

"He called us idiots. And come on, look at him," Jett laughed, pointing at James. "What a geek."

"Honestly, Jett, you guys are acting like dumbasses. You guys are only proving him right," Logan said.

James caught himself smiling a little. Logan finally defended him. _Maybe he does care about me more than I thought…_

"We have a championship to win, and we _can't_ get disqualified now."

_Wait what?_ James furrowed his eyebrows.

"If you guys get caught with this, we're not going to be able to play. Is that what you want? To throw away everything we've been working for?"

_Of course_, James growled under his breath. _Logan doesn't care about me. Just his stupid hockey game and his stupid reputation._

James pushed Logan forward away from him and forced himself up, despite his bruised body that was numb with pain. They were all gaping at him.

"Fuck _all_ of you guys," he muttered, eyeing Logan in particular.

He limped down the hallway and went into the drama room where everyone was already starting on their jobs. The chattering died down and the students all stared at the bruised and battered boy standing in the doorway.

Mrs. Parker instructed them to continue with their jobs and approached James. She placed a hand on James' face and sighed sadly.

"Honey, what happened?" she inquired in a motherly tone.

"Nothing, just a little accident," he mumbled.

"Is there anyone bullying you, James?" she demanded, stern all of a sudden.

James considered the option of ratting the douchebags out, but couldn't bring himself to. No matter how angry he was at the jocks, he couldn't be the one to ruin championships for the school.

"No, I'm fine Mrs. Parker. Is there anything I can work on?"

She remained quiet, her lips pressed in a thin line as she suspiciously eyed James. Finally, she responded, "Yes, could you get three cups of water for the backdrop team?"

James took the three red cups from the teacher and went back out into the halls. By now, the hockey players had dispersed and the halls were empty. He entered the bathroom and began rinsing the paint cups, filling them with fresh water. Just then, the door swung open.

At first, James was too stunned to speak.

"Logan… are you stalking me?" he accused, taking a step back from the door.

"No, I'm not. I was waiting for you, that's all."

Logan stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Look, we need to talk, James."

"No we don't," James said, gripping the edge of the sink to keep him off his left leg.

Logan dropped his eyes to James' injured leg and frowned.

"I'm fine," James insisted impatiently before grabbing the cups and dragging his leg out the bathroom.

James had hoped Logan would take the damn hint and leave him alone, but Logan followed him out and into the hall.

"Leave me alone."

James tried to hop away faster, but Logan with his two fully functioning legs caught up to him effortlessly and pushed him into a nearby classroom with no teacher in it.

"Shut up and listen to me, James," Logan sighed, closing and locking the door behind him.

"NO! I'm so sick and tired of this 'friendship,' Logan. I don't want to be your friend if you're ashamed of me," James cried, shaking. You don't understand how it makes me feel."

"James, you brought _this_ onto yourself!" Logan argued, gesturing at his wounds. "If you hadn't provoked them—"

"If you had actually _stopped_ them like a real friend would—"

"You agreed to this, James! You said you were okay with our friendship being hidden and a secret!"

"Because I—"

James stopped talking and clamped his hand over his mouth.

"What? Because you what?" Logan pushed.

"Nothing."

"That wasn't 'nothing.' Tell me why you had previously agreed to keep our friendship a secret if you didn't want to."

"You wouldn't understand," James snarled, heading for the door.

"Well, then help me understand," Logan yelled, grabbing James' arm and pulling him back.

James lost his balance and fell backwards. Logan rushed forward and caught him before he hit the floor.

"I'm sorry," Logan sighed, helping James stand up again, wrapping his arms around James' waist and hoisting him up.

"Whatever."

"James, please, I'm sorry, okay? I want to make it up to you. Just tell me how!"

James grew silent for a bit, racking his brain.

"I want you to never tell _anyone_ about what I'm going to do next," James finally decided.

"Huh?"

James grabbed Logan's face and kissed him on the lips. Logan froze and let go of James' waist, his mind racing yet no thoughts were able to be processed. James pulled back and wiped his mouth, stepping back from Logan.

"That's why I agreed," James admitted quietly before racing out the door.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh snap. ;)<br>Thoughts on the Jagan? Heehee.  
>Next chapter is Kenlos! I'm actually excited to write the next chapter. Kenlos is going to be so fun. :D<br>And _then_ you can find out how Logan deals. **


	7. I'm Not Gonna Fight

**So honestly, I didn't know what to have Kendall and Carlos do... so the Kenlos is actually very transient.  
><strong>**So I brought in Jarlos friendship and James sadness whee~.  
><strong>**I promise to develop Kenlos some more though... :)**

* * *

><p>"So I told you lots of things about me and my life in Munich. What about you? What are your interests and stuff? Do you play the instruments like me as well?"<p>

Kendall and Carlos were sprawled out on the floors of Carlos' room staring up at nothing but the rotating ceiling fan.

"No I don't play anything," Carlos sighed. "But I like corn dogs."

"Obviously," the blonde laughed. "No normal person keeps four boxes of frozen corn dogs and gets real mad when someone eats the last one."

Carlos chuckled at that. Kendall had eaten his last corn dog a few days ago, and he was so furious he called him "dumb" and a "thieving bastard."

"Right, sorry about that."

"It's okay, it was a bit funny to see your face getting all read," Kendall teased, poking Carlos' cheek.

Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Shut up," he playfully muttered. "So what made you decide to come to America for a school year? You seemed to have such a cool life back in Germany, like so many friends and things to do."

Kendall didn't really respond; he just silently fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

"Kendall?"

Carlos flipped onto his belly and watched Kendall's now solemn face with concern.

"Look, let's not talk about it," Kendall finally replied.

"Family issues?" Carlos inquired. He knew he shouldn't push, but curiosity got the best of him. Why did he get all serious suddenly?

The tall German shook his head, but didn't elaborate. Carlos took that as a cue to shift subjects. The last thing he wanted to do was to make him feel uncomfortable.

"I like to pull pranks and make fun of James," Carlos continued, beginning to list his interests and facts about him again. "I don't take shit from people, but sometimes that ends up backfiring on me and come off as an asshole."

Kendall's lips broke into a smile. "I know."

Carlos gave an apologetic look and Kendall crawled to the Latino to pat his back.

"It's okay, I know you're nice person. All it took was walking around naked and lots of singing in German."

The mention of Kendall's previous naked escapades flooded Carlos' face with a rush of pink, causing him to bite his bottom lip.

"Are you getting turned on by the thought of me naked?" Kendall joked, elbowing Carlos in the ribs. "You know, you can just ask and I'll strip for you. You can even play music in the background, and I'll dirty dance."

Carlos shot him a bewildered expression and rapidly shook his head.

"W-what? No p-please don't do that," Carlos stammered. "J-just keep your clothes on…"

"You can handle me, can you?"

"…What?"

"You're refusing a strip dance because you can't handle all of me and my sexy. It's okay to admit. Not many can."

"Oh my God," Carlos groaned, covering his red face, absolutely mortified. The worst part was he couldn't tell if Kendall was just jesting about this or not.

Kendall busted out laughing at his new friend's reaction.

"Calm down, I'm just cracking jokes. I don't strip for just anyone anyway. Only boyfriends."

Carlos felt relieved and he no longer felt the need to pass out from sheer embarrassment. Although a striptease wasn't _such_ a bad idea… Wait, did Kendall just say _boyfriends_?

"You're gay?" Carlos gasped.

Kendall quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, so?"

"N-no there's nothing wrong, it's just… good to know," Carlos shrugged.

"You are too, are you not?"

Carlos let out a breath and stared at his hands. It was just a complicated subject. All his life he had been chasing girls, not really noticing the same sex as anything more than platonic friends. However, when he did manage to get a girl to go on a date with him, there was never any chemistry between the two. It was all really confusing. But the more he thought about it, the more he started paying attention to boys. The only thing is he hasn't really tried for fear of disappointment.

"It's more complicated than that," Carlos admitted, facing Kendall again. "I've been on many dates with all different types of girls, but by the end of the night, my feelings for them are gone. I guess this kind of discouraged me, and so I never attempted to date any guys. I didn't want to disappoint them, and I didn't want to be disappointed."

"Carlos, in love, you have to be bold. You can't take small mini steps because you're afraid. It just doesn't work that way. Sometimes you just have to do it and not think about consequences."

"Yeah? Where were you years ago, Jesus Christ?"

The two started to shake with laughter as they began branching off into new topics, just generally about nothing and everything. They were soon interrupted by a text, Carlos' phone vibrating on his bedside table.

"Sorry."

Carlos got up from the ground to retrieve his phone and sat back down. He opened the message.

**From: James Diamond  
>Message: Carlos, I did something so dumb. Shit, help me. AND IDGAF IF YOU'RE FUCKING KENDALL, I NEED YOU TO REPLY.<strong>

"Who is it?"

Carlos removed his eyes from the screen to answer the curious blonde.

"It's James. He's freaking out." He decided to leave the part about fucking Kendall out.

"What happened?" Kendall asked, frowning.

"No idea."

**To: James Diamond  
>Message: what happened? and omg shut up he's right here…<strong>

_Bzzzzz!_

**From: James Diamond  
>Message: I kissed Logan.<strong>

Carlos' almost threw his phone out of surprise.

**To: James Diamond  
>Message: what? details now…<strong>

"Is everything okay?" Kendall asked again.

"I don't know… I'm sorry, I have to call him."

Kendall stood up and turned on his heels to leave the room, but Carlos grabbed his hand.

"We'll talk later, promise."

Carlos offered a smile and Kendall returned the grin.

"It's okay, just go help your friend okay?"

Carlos nodded and untangled their fingers. After the blonde stepped out and closed the door behind him, he immediately dialed James' number.

"Hello?" a strangled voice whimpered out.

"James, are you okay?"

"No. I'm scared."

"What even happened?"

"…Where's Kendall?"

"Who cares?" Carlos huffed impatiently, rolling his eyes. "James, answer the damn question."

"Why'd you ditch Kendall?"

"James, God damn it!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," he sniffled. "I was on my way to the drama room when I bumped into Jett and his stupid hockey friends."

"Oh no…" Carlos groaned. "I should've been there with you."

"No, you can't spend your entire life protecting me. Anyway, I pissed the hell out of him and they sort of punched and kicked me several times."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Logan stopped them after a while, telling them they're being dumbasses."

"Awww, that's so sweet!" Carlos gushed.

"No, turns out he only cared about championships. He didn't want to get disqualified," James bitterly spat.

"Oh."

"Anyway, I told them some things and left for the drama room right? I had to refill some paint cups with new water, so I went to the bathroom. Guess who was stalking me?"

"I'm gonna go with Logan?"

"You're correct. And he kept telling me that we should talk, but I didn't want to. I tried stomping off but he roughly pushed me into a damn classroom and locked the door."

"Kinky."

"God, shut up, Carlos."

"Sorry, continue."

"And we got into a really heated argument and he wouldn't let me go and so he said he wanted to make it up to me and—"

"Breathe, James," Carlos reminded. "Don't kill yourself."

James cleared his throat and took a few steady breaths.

"And basically, I almost told him that I, you know, like him. Then he said that he wanted to make it up to me, and so I kissed him."

"…You just… kissed him?"

"Yeah, I want to kill myself right now," James muttered.

"But where the fuck did all this courage come from?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I guess I was just _so_ pissed that I couldn't think properly… How am I supposed to show my face tomorrow? I was perfectly fine being the silent kid in the background that no one gave a shit about. I was fine with being the nerdy boy that those stupid jock shitheads liked to push into lockers."

"James, I don't even know how to respond to this," Carlos admitted with a sigh. "Just know I'll be here for you, alright? Every step of the way."

"Thanks, I guess," James glumly replied. "If you don't mind, I'm going to drown my sorrows with some Calculus."

"Are you shitting me right now? Who does math when they're upset?"

"The derivatives aren't going to solve themselves, you know. And honestly, schoolwork is the only thing that makes me feel like myself. I should've never agreed to be his friend in the first place."

"I hate that you're blaming yourself. You know it's not your fault, right?"

"How is it not?"

"He gave you false hope, and frankly, if he can't see that you're worth more than this social status, then that's his loss."

"Imagine if word got out that he was friends with the biggest loser in the school. His life would be a living hell, Carlos. I don't want him to be like me. I don't want him to be treated like dirt, because he's worth more than dirt."

"And so are you," Carlos argued. "You shouldn't have to take this shit from people."

"I know. Look, just… please don't try to fix things for me okay? I just need someone to talk to and have my back, so don't say anything to Logan or anything. Promise me that."

"Alright, fine, I promise," he reluctantly agreed. How did James even know what he had in mind?

"Bye, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye James. Feel better."

Carlos hung up the phone and set his phone aside. He had so many mixed emotions right now. Part of him wanted to find Logan and tear him up to shreds as well as kick Jett in the vagina. Yes, vagina. The other part of him wanted to remain loyal to his best friend, and he couldn't break the promise. He needed someone to rant to. Someone like… Kendall.

"Kendall? Can you come in here?"

A few moments passed, and the cute blonde poked his head in.

"Yes?"

"I need someone to talk to… I'm both sad and mad at the same time."

"Sure," Kendall shrugged and stepped in. "What's wrong?"

"A lot."

Kendall kneeled beside Carlos, who was slumped on the floor.

"I'm listening."

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><p><strong>Kendall's such a wild person omg. Just... the strip teasing part made me blush as I wrote it.<br>****Carlos needs to tame him. Ha. Sexual joke. ._.**

**So lucky James gets to see Logan tomorrow at school yikes. He sits near him in math class lol lol lol.  
><strong>**What do you think is going to happen? Do they say anything or? :)**


	8. What Could Come When We Realize

**Hi guys. :) How is life?  
><strong>**I'm not really loving life because school sucks, haha. But anyway, that doesn't matter. All that matters is there's a new chapter. :3 Hope you guys like it.**

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><p>"No, no, no, no," James muttered, holding onto the corner of the wall in the school hallways as Carlos dragged him to his math class.<p>

"Come… on…" Carlos grunted, yanking harder on the brunette's backpack until James lost his grip.

"Please don't make me do this," James cried as the second bell echoed through the vacant halls. "I want to go home."

"You can't avoid Logan forever, James."

"I can. Maybe if I just convince my mom for us to move to Africa or something—"

"Shut up and let's go," Carlos grumbled and pulled him by the wrist, his hands wrapped around tightly.

"Don't you have class? Just let me go and you won't get in trouble," James brought up, attempting to walk in the opposite direction. Too bad Carlos was a lot stronger than he was.

They got to James' math class, and James began to fight and thrash in a last, desperate effort to escape the Latino's death grip on his poor wrist.

"The door's closed, come on. Let's not interrupt the class," James whined.

"Go," Carlos bluntly ordered and propelled his friend forward.

James turned his head to shoot Carlos a tortured look, grimacing and eyebrows pushed together. Carlos raised his eyebrows, letting him know he's not leaving until James entered the classroom.

"Fine."

Carlos smiled as he watched James timidly went into the room, and finally headed for his own class. James slowly walked in, avoiding all eye contact from the students and focusing on the teacher frantically scribbling notes on the whiteboard.

"You're late, Mr. Diamond."

"Sorry, Mr. Collins," he muttered.

Mr. Collins dropped his marker onto the marker holder and turned to face his late student, sending him a suspicious glare.

"Take your seat, and I will talk to you after class about detention."

James sighed. Great, his first detention. Could this day start off any worse?

He trudged to his seat, making sure to not make eye contact with Logan, only to awkwardly sit one seat behind the jock. James could practically feel and grab ahold of the tension that was there between them just from Logan's stiff body language. He had to fight the urge to just tap Logan on the shoulder and apologize like a madman while he begged for forgiveness. To distract himself, he decided upon flicking his pencil while the teacher continued on the lecture. Suddenly, the pencil was ripped out of his hand and he looked up to see a fuming Mr. Collins, eyes narrowed.

"If you're not going to pay attention, Mr. Diamond," he venomously spat, "I'm going to automatically assume you know all of this already."

_I do_.  
>"Just for you, you get extra homework. Do #1-50 for section 15-3 <em>in addition<em> to tonight's homework for 15-2."

He shot James a wicked smile, to which James just wrinkled his nose to. Oh please, an extra fifty math problems was nothing significant to the brunette. He would be done in no time. There were scattered snickers echoing in the classroom as Mr. Collins' walked back up front of the whiteboard.

"Nice going, loser," a random guy laughed, thumping the back of his head.

James sucked in air as he tried to fight the red that was rushing to his face. He felt so embarrassed and he hated it when he was the center of attention—it was never _good_ attention. A crumpled piece of binder paper, approximately the size of a fist, was chucked at him. He turned his head towards the back of the room, and found Jett with a shit-eating grin on his face. He unfolded the paper, smoothing out the wrinkles, and read the note: _You're damn lucky that Logan was there to save your ass. You're still dead, because we're gonna come after you. Faggot._

James' body began to shake with anger, frustration, and humiliated, tearing up the paper. The air in the room was getting thinner, and he began choking as he momentarily forgot how to breathe properly. He glanced back at Jett and his friends, who were pouting in a mocking manner. Faggot? Logan didn't tell did he? It could very well just be an insult. People throw that word left and right nowadays.

"Can I get a hall pass?" he choked out, raising his hand.

"No, you may not," Mr. Collins sternly refuted, not even putting forth the effort of turning around to make eye contact with his student.

"Please."

"There's only seven minutes of class left, Mr. Diamond. Please stop asking."

James' breathing grew heavier and shorter, which caused some heads to turn. Even Logan seemed to be more aware of the brunette sitting behind him, occasionally rotating his head ever so slightly to catch James in his peripheral. He didn't know what was happening, or exactly why. He just knew he had to get out of there. The class was seven minutes too long.

"Whoa, you okay dude?" some stoner guy who showed up every now and then from beside him asked. "You're breathing all heavy."

James nodded, eyes flicking to the clock. Five more minutes… He tried to tear his eyes away from the clock because that would only make time go by slower. Then he averted his eyes from the back of Logan's head; seeing it made him want to hurl. Then he looked at his homework. Maybe he should start now.

After finishing three problems, the bell finally rang, signaling his escape from the classroom that was getting a bit too small for him. He darted out into the hallways and his breathing steadied.

"Hey fucktard."

James was slammed into a random person's locker and hit the floor. His glasses were knocked off of his face, sliding next to Jett's foot. He cocked his head and proceeded to gently step on it, yet with enough pressure to crack the frames. James' contained tears fell endlessly, asking God why the hell this was happening to him.

"What do you want?" he cried out. "Just leave me alone."

"Or else you'll what?" Jett prompted.

"Or else I'll kick your asses—all of yours."

All of them turned around to face Carlos, and Kendall, who was giving them threatening looks. Jett chortled at the sight.

"What are you, five foot one?"

Jett's stupid buddies laughed and high fived him, like it was the damn funniest thing they've ever heard. Carlos sighed and rolled his eyes, proceeding to knee Jett in the groin as hard as he could. Jett's amused face transformed to a wide-eyed pained face as he cupped his crotch and succumbed to his knees.

"Beat it, you bastards."

The rest of them, dragging Jett by the back of his shirt, all scurried away in fear.

"Are you okay, James?" Carlos asked, rushing next to his friend to pull him up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," James muttered, dusting his clothes off after he got onto his feet. "Great, I need new glasses. Thanks, Carlos."

"No problem. I would've done more to them you know. I know you'd try and stop me because you're just such a good person, and yadda yadda."

Kendall was staring at Carlos, green eyes gleaming and lips slightly parted. If James didn't know any better, the German boy looked incredibly turned on. Stifling his laughter, he nodded to the blonde, silently ordering Carlos to look at Kendall. Confused, Carlos whirled around to look at his foreign exchange student.

"What? He's just staring at me..." the Latino whispered.

"Yeah, because I think he's turned on by you," James giggled in a hushed voice.

James slid his broken glasses on his face. It still worked, but it definitely needed to be replaced. Carlos gave James a hardened expression, muttering incoherent sentences and pulled Kendall from his daze.

"Come on, let's go to brunch," he urged. "I'm starving."

"Actually, you two go. I'll catch up with you guys," James said with a smile.

"What about Jett?" Carlos questioned nervously.

"I'll be fine, Carlos. Thanks again."

James started for the other direction for the art room. Although he didn't take art as an elective all throughout high school, he always loved to paint and he appreciated art. The school had an annual showcase that Friday, and so all the pieces were out in display already. He turned a sharp right and continued down the corridor until he reached the second to last door on his right. Pushing the door open, the first thing he saw was rows and _rows_ of all different types of artworks: extravagant 3D projects, paintings showcased on a fancy wooden easel, graphite, etc. He gasped at the colorful and diverse sight and slipped in, his iPhone ready to take pictures. There were several students strolling through the gallery and snapping photos of their favorite ones.

He weaved through the columns, each artwork that he passed raising his spirits. There's just something about art that he loved so much. He was all for school and academics, but they were two opposite things that were great in their own unique ways. James stopped at one painting that depicted a suave looking man whose face was cracked, some pieces missing even. Blue, pasty skin peeked out from the cracks and absent chunks, and the lips underneath were curled into a frown. Albeit it was a concept that was rather cliché, it was stylized and it was perfect to him.

"That's mine, you know."

James spun towards the source of the voice and gasped.

"Logan?" he asked in a small voice. "I, uh, didn't know you painted."

"Yeah, most people don't," he chuckled. "I never put my name on my artwork."

Come to think of it, the man in the painting kind of resembled Logan. He just didn't see it until now.

"Well you should. It's great," James sighed, staring at the painting again. He raised his phone and took shots of the creation at different angles and in different lighting.

"So, James," Logan suddenly interrupted, now in a serious tone, "we really need to talk."

"About what?"

James was pretending to pay attention to Logan's painting more so than the conversation, so he doesn't burst into tears and just kiss his feet, begging for forgiveness.

"You know, James. Can you please look at me?"

The taller reluctantly fixed his eyes onto the shorter's and let out a tiny breath.

"I just need to know why you kissed me. Why me?"

"I liked you for a long time, I guess, I don't know. I just did."

"James…"

"What?" James shrugged. "I'm telling you the truth."

"I don't want you to _guess_ and be _honest_, please."

"Well _honestly_, I want to hate you, Logan, I really do. And by all means I should. But I don't. It just draws me into you more. I don't know why. Maybe some psychological bullshit where the more I can't have you, the more I want you. _I don't know_. This is getting awkward Logan, please interrupt me and say something. Anything. Please?"

"Wow."

James gave him an eye roll and picked up his backpack that was lying on the floor.

"I'm going."

"Wait, please don't. Look, I don't know what this means, but I think I felt something when you kissed me. I've never kissed a guy or really developed feelings for a guy. I'm not saying I'm gay, James, but I'm just saying… it's possible. And I'm confused."

"You're asking help from the wrong guy, Logan, and I'm sorry. Look at me."

He removed his glasses.

"Jett broke these today for not much of reason. God knows what the hell he'll do to me if he finds out I'm gay. And I know I can't help who I am, but it would sure be a lot easier if I didn't have to pretend I was straight. Don't think about your sexuality right now. Just survive high school, and then do whatever you want. I have to go."

"James, wait—"

"Bye," James quickly shouted and left the room.

Logan stared at the closed door and let out a strangled groan. Now what?

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><p><strong>Well, thoughts? :D<br>****Do you think that Logan's going to give up and go on with his life? Or what?  
><strong>**Reviews are great~. **


	9. And I'll Smile When You Speak

**First of all, I want to thank each and every reviewer for this story! :) I mean, wow! You guys are awesome!  
><strong>**Second of all, I'm sorry for the slow update. I've been sick all week, and I had ACT the previous weekend.  
>Fun fact: this is the third update I posted within two days HOLLA~. That's right, like a boss. I updated three of my stories.<br>****Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

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><p>Logan could see it. The path straight to the goal was clear, unblocked. Well, almost, there was that chump of a goalie. He had the puck in his possession. It was tempting, but he had a bad feeling about this. It was too easy. This had to be a set-up. It couldn't be this easy. He felt his hand lurch out and his skates pushing off the ice to gain momentum. What was he doing? He was falling into a trap and he knew it. His adrenaline was coursing through his vein at such an intense speed and he couldn't think. He didn't have time to think.<p>

"No, Logan, what are you doing?" he heard Jett scream from behind him, but he was silenced by an opponent's tackle.

Logan was speeding down the ice, dribbling the black puck with his stick. Before he could shoot, he was pushed to the side and slammed into the sideboards, earning a loud groan from the audience. Even with all the thick padding, he felt a lot of the impact as he slumped onto the ice. Pain shot up his arm and to his chest. Son of a bitch might've dislocated it.

The referees blew their whistle, temporarily pausing the game as they glided over to Logan to check up on him.

"Are you okay?" the one with the mustache asked.

"Yeah," he grumbled, getting up. As soon as he got back on his feet, more pain surged up his leg as well and he crumpled back down.

"Get him off the ice. I'll go back to notify the coach," the same ref directed and skated off.

After all four of the men helped Logan back to the bench, he was met with cold stares and shakings of heads from his coach and teammates.

"I told you, didn't I? Why the hell would you think it would be that fucking easy?" Jett hissed, taking out his teeth guard. "God damn it! How are we supposed to play with our captain injured?"

"Shut the fuck up, Jett," Logan retaliated. "If you spent more of your time practicing instead of giving that James kid shit, maybe you could actually be of use in this team. Who named you co-captain anyway? You're useless."

The entire team stared at Logan in complete shock. He had never said anything mean to _any_ of them unless it was a form of constructive criticism. He was always the nicest, the most patient. Even Jett didn't bother to snap back; his jaw had hit the floor.

"That's enough, Logan," the coach sternly demanded. "Sit in the locker room and wait for the paramedics. In the meantime, Jett, you're leading the Hornets tonight."

"But Coach, I'm not prepared! I didn't even think of any strategies!" he protested, but the coach wouldn't have it.

"Wow, great co-captain," Logan sarcastically remarked, struggling as he pushed himself up onto his feet.

"What's your problem today, Jesus Christ?" Jett muttered.

Logan, along with a ref, finally made it to the locker room and he got situated on a bench near his locker.

"Are you okay by yourself?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Just try to change out of your uniform and the paramedics should be arriving soon."

"Got it," Logan grunted. He slowly reached for his skates, carefully unlacing the laces. Every inch of his body hurt like a bitch. He was so mad, at everything. At himself, at the dumbass defense that knocked the air out of him, at James. Yes, at James. He just had to fucking kiss him and then leave and ignore him. He probably wasn't even at the game. What a jackass.

He was interrupted by a knock on the door behind him that separated the rink from the locker rooms.

"Thanks ref, but I can change myself," Logan said, eyes still fixed on unlacing his skates.

"I'm not the ref, although that's good to know you still know how to change."

Every muscle in Logan's body froze, though in all honesty, half of them were probably already paralyzed by the impact of the brute hockey player. But still, that voice. He could recognize it anywhere.

"James, you're not supposed to be here," Logan spat, his fingers tangled with his laces.

"I know, I snuck in here."

James sat next to Logan on the bench. Logan glanced at James, who half smiled at him. His hair was sticking up everywhere, like he had just rolled out of his bed, and his plaid shirt was buttoned up wrong.

"You look messy," Logan remarked, not with any hostility or bitterness, but just as a statement.

"I know, I got a call from Carlos. He almost died of a panic attack you know?" James laughed as he recalled his friend gasping from air on the phone. He reached to touch Logan's battered arm. "I hope you're okay."

"Yeah, sure." He jerked his arm away from James' touch. "You didn't even have the balls to show up to one of my games? Where you don't even have to talk to me and make fucking eye contact with me? God damn it James, just leave then," Logan fired, this time with lots of venom laced in his words. He turned his head away and angrily began to untie his laces. He was trying to hide his hurt expression from the brunette sitting mere feet away. His frantic arm motions made his injuries hurt even more, but he didn't care at all at that moment.

"God Logan, you think it's all about you, don't you? I'm already making it about you, trying to help _you_ survive. Last time I checked, _I_ agreed to be your friend as long as no one knew about it. Guess who ended up getting hurt? Me. Last time I checked, _you_ ditched me in middle school because I wasn't cool enough. My _best friend_ since grade school. Guess who ended up getting hurt? Me. And because I don't go to one hockey game, you have to be a princess about it? Get over yourself, Logan. What the hell do you want me to do? You want me here but you don't want people to know about us."

Logan dropped his head and sulked, because every word was true. He was an asshole to James, and all this time, James had a crush on him. He didn't even expect anything from him, even after all the shit that went down between them. The acknowledgment of his mistakes only amplified the ache and pain attacking his drained body.

"I'm sorry." Logan faced James, who was glaring at the linoleum tiles. His eyebrows were pushed together and his face was flushed with anger.

James softened his expression and flicked his eyes to the shorter boy. He let out a small breath and brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"Don't be. What did I expect from a guy like you? I mean, you're so perfect and popular. You have everything. And look at me, I'm nothing compared to you! I'm nerdy, my glasses are stupid, my hair is a mess, and I've decided. I know what I'm doing, and so don't try to talk me out of it okay? I've thought over this—"

"James," Logan interrupted.

"I'll agree to be whatever it is that you want me to be. Secret boyfriend, secret partners-in-crime, whatever."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "What? No. No, I'm sorry. I can't ask you to do that."

"Logan," James whined, resembling a small child. "Look, I like being around you and I've liked you for so, so long. And after thinking, I'd rather be able to hang out with you in private than not at all… so will you go on a secret date with me?"

The hockey player grimaced. He didn't want to put James through this position again, seeing that it broke his heart last time. However, James seemed adamant on it, and how bad could it be to date in secrecy? Celebrities do it all the time. He just needed to make sure what he was doing at school didn't offend or hurt James in any way.

"Yes," Logan finally replied, a little bit hesitant. "Fine. But if I do anything wrong, tell me, okay?"

James nodded. Just then, the front doors swung open and four paramedics barged into the room. One of them pushed the smart one aside and told him that he couldn't be here.

"Hey, I'll come over to your house later tonight, alright?" Logan yelled over the machines buzzing.

James bit his lower lip and nodded before running out. He had so much to tell Carlos.

* * *

><p>"You're officially in idiot. Good job."<p>

"Carlos, can you act a little bit more excited for me?" James sighed into the phone.

"Until you start being smart again, fuck no. I was actually sympathizing him because he got his ass checked by some big dude in white and orange but now I actually envy that guy. I want to beat the shit out of him for toying with your heart."

James smiled and rolled his eyes. He loved Carlos and his defensive tendencies; he knows that Carlos just cared about him.

"I brought it up, Carlos. I thought about it for a long time. I mean, being bullied by Jett wasn't his fault. I can't really blame him for not defending me."

"Uh, yeah you can. Friends help friends. Now that you two are _sh,_ _dating_, what's he supposed to do? Watch you get your ass pummeled? Not very romantic," Carlos scoffed.

"Hey, I have you, don't I?"

"True, but I can't be the only person to defend you. I'm just saying, I don't think you should've proposed this secret dating. It's just going to blow up in your face, and I say this in the nicest way possible."

"Well you should spend less time worrying about my relationship and focus on yours. Have you made a move on Kendall yet?" James asked, a smug grin on his face.

He could practically feel Carlos blushing through the phone as he stammered a nonsensical response.

"Sh-shut up! At least what I have with Kendall has potential to be real!"

"Well hurry up, someone might get to his German ass before you and charm him. And my relationship has potential too… sort of!" James argued back.

"Right, as if anyone could charm better than _I_ can. My looks are intoxicating!" Carlos cackled.

James bursted into laughter. He loved the weird cackle that Carlos does when he's joking around.

"Oh you slay me, Garcia," he giggled, wiping the tear from his eyes. His abs were aching as he couldn't stop shaking with laughter.

"By the way, how was detention yesterday?" Carlos remembered. "Are there bad seeds in there?"

James gasped and widened his eyes, touching his lips with his fingertips.  
>"What?"<p>

"I forgot to take the slip, nonetheless attend!" James shrieked. "Oh my God, Mr. Collins is going to slaughter me. I just raced out of the room as soon as the bell rang and, oh shit."

Carlos stifled his laughter, but James could hear him perfectly clearly.

"Carlos shut up! This isn't funny! Stanford's not going to accept me now that I'm practically a _delinquent_," James moaned, sweat collecting at his brow. He's never been more scared to return back to school.

"Did you finish your extra assignments?" Carlos reminded.

James slapped his face. Logan had become such a distraction that he seemed to forget about homework frequently. "No."

"Go do it, dude. Isn't Logan coming over soon?"

"Yeah," James muttered. "I'll talk to you later."

"Good idea," Carlos chuckled. "See you."

James hung up and threw his phone somewhere across his room. He pulled out his math homework and began furiously writing. He glanced at the clock on his dresser, which read 8:03 PM. Logan could be arriving any moment. BS it or make Logan wait for him to finish, but do an adequate job?

"Logan, you better be fucking worth it," he thought aloud as he wrote down random numbers for each number.

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><p><strong>Lol I actually didn't realize James left without the detention slip so whoever pointed that out, thank you! I encorporated it.<br>****I have to say honestly, I wasn't too satisfied with how this chapter turned out so feedback for this is greatly encouraged.  
><strong>**Plus reviews make my day. As do alerts and favorites, so thank you guys, all of you guys! :D**

**So how hard do you want to hit James right now for deciding to date Logan in private? :O  
>What could possibly go right?<strong>


	10. You Crossed the Line

**Yikes I'm so sorry. I've been working on this chapter for kind of a long time, and truthfully, it's still meh for me, partly because it's so short omg.**  
><strong>BY THE WAY, IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE AVENGERS DO SO BEFORE I HUNT YOU DOWN.<br>****Sorry, I'm such a Marvel girl and I've been pretty obsessed with this stuff. I actually made a Hulk reference in this story oops.  
><strong>**Anyway, hope you like this. Or don't.**

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><p>It's safe to say that so far, this day sucked. James had come to school earlier to talk to Mr. Collins about forgetting the detention slip on his way out the day before; instead of one day of detention, he wound up with the entire week for two hours each day. He concluded that his dreams of getting into Harvard, or any other Ivy League, had been single-handedly kicked to the dirt and stepped on ruthlessly by his damn math teacher.<p>

When they were finished talking (or maybe more like loud lecturing on Mr. Collins' part), the other students have already started to file in. James scooted his frames higher up and sighed in defeat as he retreated to his desk, right behind Logan… and some stupid cheerleader sitting on the jock's desk. He warily glanced at the brunette giggling at something Logan said, a lock of her chocolate brown hair wound around her slim fingers, as he cautiously took a seat in his chair.

"So you still haven't answered my question, silly!" she scoffed, playfully pushing Logan on the shoulder.

James made a gagging face and decided to try to stop eavesdropping by taking out his binders and notebooks.

"Right, and what was your question again?" Logan chuckled, raising an eyebrow. That earned a painfully high-pitched squeal from the girl.

"Would you mind going to prom with me?"

James snapped his head to the two talking in front of him, eyes wide and mouth slightly parted in shock. _You better say no, Logan._

"Oh right," he smiled, shifting in his chair with unease. "But Natalie, a guy like me with a _gorgeous girl_ like you? I don't know…"

James' hands curled into a fist and he was nearly shaking. What the _hell_ was his _boyfriend_ doing flirting with this slut?

"Yeah right, Logan. You're, like, so much hotter than me." She rolled her eyes and snapped the gum in her mouth.

_And I'm, like, about to kick you in the vagina._

It was so difficult for James to not just explode and slap the girl back to wherever she came from. He quirked an eyebrow, waiting for Logan to respond, as he stared at his calculator and pretended to do a math problem.

"I'll think about it, how about that?" he smirked, touching her leg gently.

That did it. James pushed back his chair, an ear-shattering screech echoing in the small room. Everyone turned to face him, even Logan who was giving him a confused look, and suddenly, James didn't have the nerve to confront his "boyfriend" anymore. Not when everyone was watching. He silently stood up and approached the teacher, who grumbled at the sight of the nerd.

"What now?" he hissed.

James ignored the annoyance in Mr. Collins' voice and simply requested for the bathroom pass.

"Class is almost starting, Mr. Diamond. Please return to your seat."

The room was still unbearably silent now, and James could feel a rush of heat to his face. Now he felt the embarrassment. Everyone was gawking at him throwing a weird silent tantrum, only to return back to his seat because he was unable to storm out like he had hoped to.

When the upset boy passed Logan, they exchanged looks. James shot him a "you're fucking dead to me later" look and Logan just appeared to be extremely lost and confused.

For the rest of the period, James managed to hide himself behind the math textbook, which in turn minimized the crumpled up notes with insults scribbled messily on them thrown at his head. Or maybe he just didn't really take notice because he was too busy wishing to die in a hole at the moment. The date yesterday night had went so well. They talked about their interests and whatnot, and learned about each other. For example, James learned that Logan loved sushi and old classic rock music, which he thought was so hot. Not loving sushi, but his taste for classic rock music. James had told him his dream of studying at Harvard for either law or biology, or maybe even physics. Either way, an Ivy League was a part of his dream. A smile played on James' lips as he remembered the pause after they were pretty much done talking about their personal selves; Logan had leaned in for a kiss slowly, as if testing James' reaction, and gently pressed his lips to James'. It was short and sweet, his lips tasted like vanilla, and it was perfect. It was James' first kiss, and it couldn't have gone any better.

"Mr. Diamond."

He was pulled out of his memory of last night and back into the present. He lowered his math book and saw Mr. Collins smiling at him, almost deviously.

"Since you weren't paying attention, why don't you tell the whole class what this limit app-"

"One," James responded immediately, adding a tiny yawn to irk the teacher. It was a successful endeavor; Mr. Collins made a low noise in his throat, irate apparent on his face, and turned back to the class.

Logan twisted around and sent him a congratulatory smile, but James coldly refused to acknowledge him. From James' peripherals, he could see his grin fading into a small frown and he turned back to face the front of the room.

The bell soon rang and James was one of the first students to leave for lunch. The air was just getting a bit thin in Mr. Collins' room, and hopefully the cafeteria would be better. When he arrived, Carlos was already waiting for him. Well, er, sort of. The Latino was leaning forward on his elbows on the table with his face in his hands, sending loving looks at the blonde exchange student. Kendall's eyebrows were high on his forehead, hands waving violently as he was telling Carlos a story probably, too oblivious to note Carlos' stare.

As James approached the two, Kendall flicked his eyes over and waved, interrupting his story. Carlos blinked and turned around to greet me, patting me on the back, as if he wasn't just lost in his daydreams about Kendall.

"Hey, so how was math? Did Mr. Collins slaughter you?" Carlos laughed.

"He might as well should've. My detention got extended," James glumly recalled, grimacing as he dropped his head onto the table. "Kill me now."

"Okay, drama queen, seriously, detention doesn't mark the end of the fucking world." Carlos forcefully lifted his friend's head up, a concerned look donned on his face. "What's wrong with you today?"

"Do you know how hard it is to watch your own boyfriend flirt with some whore _right in front of you_?"

"Can't say I do. But I feel like there's always more to the story than the little glimpse you give me. So I'm going to ask you to tell me the context of the story too. Who was this girl, why was he flirting, and _how _he was flirting?"

"So Natalie, the cheerleader, asked him to prom, and he said _maybe_. And he made some stupid remark about how she's too pretty for him, and touched her leg, and made my esophagus burn with rising acid," James explained through gritted teeth.

"And did you talk to him about this?" Carlos suggested, but then let out a small noise, disgruntled. "Wait, oh right, you're dating in secret."

"Don't be so mean, Carlos," Kendall piped up, lightly hitting Carlos on the arm. "He's already feeling bad."

"Yeah, listen to your boyfriend." James smirked at the two of them turning beet red at his words.

"We're not dating," Carlos muttered, staring at anywhere but his two friends beside him.

Before James could respond, he heard the unmistakable squeak of giggle coming from behind him. Sure enough, Logan and Natalie were approaching with the brunette attached to his arm. Logan didn't seem to have much of a problem, and continued to laugh with her.

James darted his eyes toward Kendall and Carlos who were shocked to see Logan act like that blatantly in front of his boyfriend.

"Follow my lead," Kendall whispered. He got up from his seat and squeezed in between Carlos and James. He set his hand on James' knee, earning a "what the hell are you doing?" look from both James _and_ Carlos. He threw his head back and started laughing obnoxiously, drawing attention from basically everyone in a 10 feet radius. "That's so funny, Jamie."

The German scooted closer, making sure Logan noticed their shoulders touching. "So, um, I'm new here, and I need a tour guide. Do you think you can show me around, maybe take me to a good restaurant." He blinked flirtatiously at James and his lips curled into a bashful smile.

James awkwardly grinned back and reluctantly placed his hand onto Kendall's knee as well. "I think I know a few places…" He winked, emitting a fake titter from the blonde.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the discomfort in Logan's composure as he casually brushed the girl off of his arm and glared daggers at James. James turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow smugly, then turned back to pretend flirt with Kendall. In that moment, Logan reached for Natalie's hand and announced loudly, "You know what, Natalie, I'd love to take you to prom."

James snapped his head towards the couple walking away now, gaping in utter astonishment. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He subconsciously balled his hand into a fist and slammed it down on the table.

"Calm down, Hulk, don't let him get to you." Carlos had switched seats with Kendall again, and pinned James' fist down onto the table.

"He just agreed to take her to prom!" James spluttered, almost forgetting every single word in the English language out of pure anger. "I am allowed to go Hulk!"

"Don't. He's just trying to get on your nerves. See, this is why dating in secret is not good, especially with a player like Logan. I hate to be blunt, but it doesn't seem like you mean much to him if he's going to be ashamed of you and hide your relationship while he flirts it up with dumb whores like Natalie," Carlos sighed.

"Well, then what should I do?"

"Deal with this after school. No need to humiliate him and yourself by Hulk smashing his and poor Natalie's face. In the meantime, let's go get food and actually eat because I'm starving!"

James grimly nodded and followed the two to the lunch line, absolutely deprived of an appetite. He felt slightly nauseous, and Carlos' whole spiel about how he probably meant nothing to the jock just made everything a bit worse. His heart felt empty and truthfully, he wanted to just break down and cry. But he knew he couldn't. He had gotten himself into this by agreeing to date in secrecy. That was the plan. What he didn't know a day ago was that it sure was a hell of a lot harder than he had anticipated.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry for the late update.<br>****But oh look at that, Logan you whore. Go home. Just kidding. You're cute, you can stay.**

**I'm going to try making next chapter a Kenlos. Okay, I'm bad at planning out stories but currently, I'm trying to update my other three Cargan/Kames _while_ plan a one-shot for Steve x Tony for the Avengers so yeah... Bear with me? Pretty please? :D**

**Although I will probably update this one sooner if I get a lot of reviews lol, it always happens like that.  
>But it's up to you! So any Kenlos ideas?<strong>

**OH YEAH, SEASON 3 STARTED. AND KENDALL'S HAIR MAKES ME WANT TO STRANGLE MYSELF. IN A GOOD WAY. Thoughts on Backstage Rush? :)**


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